Question

How do I get my baby to sleep on his back?

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For the first three weeks of my 5-week-old's life, he hardly slept. I'd put him on his back and his startle reflex would wake him up. What a nightmare! One day I put him on his stomach and he slept for four hours -- so now he naps on his tummy while I keep an eye on him. At night, he'll only sleep on his back if he's in bed with me. I want to put him in his crib, but not on his tummy because I'm afraid of SIDS. Please help!

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My youngest would not sleep on her back at first. It wasn't reflux; she just didn't burp well. We finally started co-sleeping with her (she could sleep on her side, but I wouldn't put her down like that without me right there) until she was five months old. She can sleep on her back now, so she's been in her own crib for just over a week now. This weekend I'll move back to my own bed (I've been sleeping on a pallet on the floor), at least at first, to finalize the transition. Hopefully she'll be fully independent in her own bed by six months. Our oldest started off that way & way sleeping through the night by three months, so we'd gotten spoiled!

My daughter would also wake up as soon as I tried to put her on her back. I put her on her side and rolled a receiving blanket in a roll and placed it behind her so she felt "cuddled" when I put her in her crib for naps until she could roll over. Sometimes I let her sleep strapped in her car seat or in her bouncy seat at night, so I could get a few hours of sleep -- whatever worked! That stage lasted for about 5 weeks or so, then one day she just went to sleep on her back on her own, and has had no problem since.

My baby girl is 6 months now and she hasn't slept on her back since she was less than 1 week old. She has been sleeping throught the night on her tummy since she was a month old and before that she would sleep 6 hours into the night and wake up for a feeding and then sleep another 6 hours. I think it is because she sleeps on her tummy. In the hospital she choked on her spit up because she was on her back and ever since, I have been scared of her sleeping on her back. But the only way she will sleep is on her tummy. I talked to my grandma (mother of 10 kids) and she said that all her babies slept on their tummies, and they were all fine.

For the first month of my sons life he would wake up about every hour. The only way I could get him to sleep is to lay him on my chest and rock him. So in order for me to get sleep, we slept like this. But as soon as I would get him to sleep, I would try to lay him down in his bassinet, he would wake up. I thought it was the bassinet that he didnt like. Until one day I decided to lay him on his stomach, he slept the whole night. From then on he has slept on his stomach. He is three months old now and I dont see any harm in it. Besides, years ago they told people "dont lay your baby on their back". Now theyve switched it to "dont lay your babys on their stomachs". When they grow up and have kids it will be back to "dont lay your babys on their backs" again.

We all turned out fine sleeping on our stomachs (fortunately). Everything should be fine, as long as you keep an eye on your baby and make sure there is nothing (ie: pillows, blankets, stuffed animals) that poses a potential suffocation hazard.
My now 7-month old son wouldn't sleep on his back from day one, unless he was in the bed with me, but when he sleeps on his stomach he always turned his head so that his nose and mouth are not covered. I simply suggest let the baby sleep how they are comfortable. They don't like to be bothered while they're trying to sleep any less than we do as adults.

There is a monitor on the market called "AngelCare". It goes under the mattress and is very sensitive to movement. If the baby stops breathing for 20 seconds, an alarm goes off. My little one slept horribly on her back. So did her cousin, who is just a week older. The AngelCare monitor came highly recommended by several friends. We both now sleep soundly; I don't worry about SIDS so much only because I know the monitor will detect any problem.

Ok, I have a 4 month old with the same problem, so at nap time and bedtime I lay him on his tummy to fall asleep and then wait about 20 minutes. After he is asleep I turn him onto his side. He is now sleeping up tp 7 hours at night and naps for at least 3 hours during the day. It worked for us, it might be worth a try...

My 4 mo. old has been sleeping on his belly since he was about 2 wks old. He too was bothered by the startle reflex and would wake up screaming. One day my mom put him on his tummy for a nap and I was surprised at how long he slept. We checked on him alot through the night to make sure he was breathing good and now since he's starting to roll over sometimes he just ends up on his back which is fine with him now.

My 4 1/2 month old has slept on his stomach since... well almost immediatly after my husband and I brought him home from the hospital. He simply refused to sleep on his back for more than 20 minute stretches at a time. Only if I was holding him would he nod out for a decent period... something that I was not about to do all night long. This, obviously, was not a healthy state for him or me. We were both in a constant state of exhaustion. Eventually I just gave up and started putting him on his stomach and lo and behold he now not only takes 2 hour naps during the day but sleeps completely through the night as well. Talk about a complete turn around. As for SIDS... I'm not really concerned about it. Statistical studies have been proven wrong many, many times in the past, what I figure is that your baby knows what's right, or at bare minimum what is more comfortable, for him (or her). Regardless of age.

Both of my girls slept on their tummies. both of them have umbilical hernias and also suffered from collic. I found that sleeping them on their tummies worked wonders. my little one is 4and 1/2 months-i put her to sleep on her tum in the hospital and got told off. she sleeps for long stretches of time (up to 4hrs) during the day and will just about go thru the night! i find it safer for her as she doesn't choke on her sick.

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